Improving service quality in Parent: Hydro-Québec reaches a new milestone with the inauguration of Québec’s largest energy storage system.
La Tuque, September 18, 2024 – To improve service quality, Hydro-Québec and its subsidiary, EVLO Energy Storage Inc. (EVLO), inaugurate the battery energy storage facility of Parent, in the region of Haute-Mauricie. The site, which includes 20 EVLO 1000 battery energy storage (BESS) units and is located next to Parent’s power station, has been fully operational since summer 2024. It is the largest energy storage system in Québec, with a power capacity of 4 MW/20 MWh delivered by EVLO.
The storage system will supply residential and business customers when the service is interrupted for maintenance works or in the event of an outage on the transmission line. Hydro-Québec and EVLO teams have demonstrated their great innovation skills to ensure the system’s capability to run for up to 16 consecutive hours without any service interruption.
The commissioning of the system illustrates Hydro-Québec’s ambition to improve its quality of service throughout Québec and to offer resilient solutions by providing auxiliary power during service interruptions. The goal is to reduce the number of breakdowns by 35% over the next 7 to 10 years. The Action Plan 2035 – Towards a decarbonized and prosperous Québec includes investments of 40 to 50 billion dollars by 2035 to secure the resiliency of our grid.
An innovative, creative project
This project represents a major step forward. It is the first fully automated battery storage system in North America to ensure continuity of service in the event of an outage on Hydro-Québec’s transmission system.
The commissioning of EVLO’s storage system in Parent will also provide the opportunity to retire diesel-powered generators, which are used in the event of service interruptions or maintenance works, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the use of fossil fuels.
“The number one priority of our Action Plan 2035 is to improve service quality. Measures like this one will help us achieve our outage reduction targets, thereby improving the service delivered to our customers in every region. The work of our teams also enabled us to deepen our expertise and enhance the resilience of our transmission system”, said Régis Tellier, Senior Director – Operations and Maintenance – Generation and Transmission- South.
“We are very proud to inaugurate the Parent project, which is a success for all stakeholders. In addition to providing power grid stability to the local community, this project has led to numerous technological advances, embodying the excellence of Québec innovation, supporting power grid resilience. The energy storage technology EVLO has deployed in Parent has been awarded Energy Storage Canada’s Landmark Application prize, illustrating our contribution to the energy transition”, added Sonia St-Arnaud, President and CEO of EVLO.
“We are delighted that this energy storage system is located in Parent, in the city of La Tuque. This project exemplifies the great collaboration between us and Hydro-Québec. Our citizens of Parent will greatly benefit from the introduction of this new technology, which will grant them access to reliable electricity, through robust equipment”, stated Luc Martel, Mayor of La Tuque.
Marie-Louise Tardif, Member of Parliament representing Laviolette – Saint-Maurice, said that “every Hydro-Québec investment in the region is good news. Several hydropower plants are currently undergoing major renovation projects. Today, I am very pleased to see a project involving innovation and cutting-edge technology becoming a reality here, in the Mauricie region”.
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Information
Pascal Poinlane
Advisor – Media Relations
Hydro-Québec
Pascal.poinlane@hydroquebec.com
Cell.: 418-571-4359
Anne Vincent
Marketing Director
EVLO
vincent.anne@evloenergy.com
Cell.: 450 400-2415
